Looking for Tomorrow
by Mystic.Luna1997
Summary: Enna Rodriguez has always been ignored by her eccentric parents. But one night when she tries to run away will alter her life forever. She'll encounter people and situations she never dreamed of... and she won't need to spend her time looking for her future. Sorry I'm new at this, and consequently I suck at summaries but please give it a try. rated M just incase


**Prologue**

I had always been a curious girl. Why ought I not to be? My mother was a naturalist and I'd spent my toddler years perched on her lap listening intently to her accounts of nargles and whacksplurts, while splendid Spanish sun peeped through our gauzy curtains. I never called my mother 'mum', not because she insisted it made her feel old. No, only for the simple reason I'd latched onto calling her 'Mila' from a young age. The funny thing was it wasn't even her name.

Mila was, in appearance, a retired hippie. She gravitated towards marimekko print kaftans and woven leather headbands with peacock feathers dangling from them, catching the wind; just like the assorted wind chimes that hung on our white washed balcony.

Papá didn't differ much from Mila. He was a consultant Cursebreaker, still obsessed with motorbikes and being young. When I was upset he used to sit me on his lap and play the harmonica while Mila sang along, rocking back and forth to the beat in her creaking rocking chair.

What a pair my parents were. They'd let me stay out late playing with the local kids and exploring the enigmatic forest just outside of old town Cuenca, Spain.

I'd grown up in Spain, the gentle hum of town activity and the warmth of the sun was all I'd really known. Mila, Papa and I had gone on a lot of exotic places for holidays, because Mila's word required it. But to me, Old Town Cuenca would always be my home. I was half Spanish, my father was Spanish but my mother was from England; I could speak Spanish much better than English and my skin was tan from the Spanish sun. My mum sometimes states I look like a muggle actress called Penelope Cruz, in her younger days, whoever that is.

My mother's parents moved here from England after getting married, so my mum's natively English, even though she'd been born in Spain.

I'd loved my life, growing up around magic, knowing I'd be attending Magico, a low key Wizarding boarding school in Madrid. Then my parents started going out more, on business, becoming more engrossed in their own lives and no longer having time for '_poco _Enna'. The first time Donna Marie baby-sat me, I'd thought she was an angel. Then it was revealed that she was an unstable squib who drowned her sorrows in potent drink that often made my eyes sting. She was either too drunk to care or too high to cook me dinner.

So I taught myself to cook, clean and most importantly study magic. At first it wasn't that simple, but every time I saw Donna Marie passed out cold on the sofa, or Mila cooped up in her 'den', I continued with renewed zeal.

One day changed it all. I can still see myself shouldering my rucksack; my only thought was to escape. I'd just turned ten and my parent's birthday present to me was informing me they had to go on a two month business trip to who knows where and they couldn't take me with them. I'd gazed at them with my calculating brown eyes and, as always, said nothing. Later that night when Donna Marie had arrived with a large suitcase and an even larger handhold full of Firewhisky I knew I wouldn't get another chance to escape. So I'd raced up the spiral staircase and thrown everything I could think of that I might need into my travel rucksack. With a thudding heart I'd crept down the fire escape outside my window and ran into the night- never once looking back- until it swallowed me whole.

My mind reflects on how I cried out in earnest as bulky arm grabbed me off the path to the forest. I screamed so hard my ears rang, but it only made him angry and a wall on black slammed into me as the ground came up to slap me hard in the face.

Silence…

For Days. Only darkness…and an eerie silence. Then they'd opened the doors and thrown in some stale pumpkin pastries; which I'd chucked up almost immediately on consumption. Laying there, sprawled out on the damp and hard floor, I'd contemplated that this was far worse than staying with Donna Marie and I remember staying conscious long enough to think what stupid little girl I was before I blacked out completely. When I came to, I was aware of a splitting headache and sore wrists. Slowly I opened my eyes, studying my surroundings and finding myself chained to a chair in a long rectangular room. To my surprise, there were more girls chained up beside me, some conscious others crying hysterically, we formed a line that went on for what seemed like miles because of my double vision. When my head cleared slightly, I realised there were only about 8 other girls, varying in age.

"You're the new one, aren't you?" croaked a girl, around twelve, to my right. She had her startling grey eyes trained on me, they were puffy and black with bruises and as she shifted position, I noticed her face contort in agony. I crease my brow in reply because I've never been good at English. My mouth and throat feel like sandpaper and I'm struggling to stay conscious.

"My name's Vivienne, but just call me Viv," she managed to choke out through wracking coughs. "Me, Enna," I whisper. Then I notice all the girls in the room are straining to get a look at me, in fact they have been ever since I came to and maybe even before.

A tiny girl to my left was rocking back and forth, her dull blue eyes darting everywhere. She mutters under her breath. "That's Hazel," explains Viv, following my gaze, "She's the youngest, Janey's little sister." I look around for her sister to make herself known, but I'm met with solemn stares. "_Who's Janey_?" I whisper in Spanish, dreading the answer.

Viv doesn't answer this time; it's another girl, the one with matted straw blonde hair and vacant brown eyes. "They took her away a week ago, Hazel's been like this ever since," my eyes travel back to the crying girl and imagine a time when her eyes were bright with the joy of being young; and free.

Then the other girls introduce themselves. The girl that explained about Janey was called May. Another girl with fiery red hair and a broken nose is Victoria (a.k.a. Tori). Then there's Barbie- short for Barbara), Anya, and the twins Isabelle and Abby. When I ask where we are, they look around uncertainly. "Well I was kidnapped in Spain, while I was on holiday five months ago, so I suppose we must be somewhere in Spain," offered Barbie, she didn't look anything like an actual Barbie; her dirty blond hair was split and tangled, while her snub nose was bleeding continually, dripping down her chin and onto her crumpled blue shirt.

"This may sound weird to you but we think they're wizard-nappers," stated Tori. "_I kind of guessed that when they knocked me out with a stunning spell_," was all I said. None of them looked particularly surprise that I was a witch.

And that's how we spend each day, learning about each other, trying to raise each others spirits; becoming closer by the hour. I don't know how long I've been there, but finally Hazel directly addresses us. "They're coming, this is our chance, the gorilla one has your wands; one of us has to distract them while you try and get it back,"

Momentarily we are shocked into silence then the door swings open and I get my first look at my captors. First to come in was a stocky, muscular man, with beefy arms that seemed to be too long and his face was contorted in deep concentration, giving him the look of a constipated gorilla. In his left hand are three wands, they must be Viv, Anya and Tori's wand's. Behind him a bigger, beefier and aggressive looking man enters. Bringing up the rear is a young woman with sunken eyes and torn clothes that hung of her bony frame. When she sees Hazel, her eyes tear up. So I supposed she was Hazel's older sister, Janey. She didn't have a wand; instead she was carrying some rough looking potato sacks.

I can tell it's a shock for the others, because they look from her to the men with confusion. _I'll get you out_ she mouths to Hazel, who's stopped rocking her eyes never leaving her sister.

"Alright _witches_ in the sacks!" bellowed the aggressive man; he seemed to be in charge.

"Why should we!" shouted Viv, sticking out her tongue and crossing her eyes at him. Wow that takes courage, I thought, maybe I should try some. I search around desperately for something cutting to say before aggressive man crucio's my friend.

"_Oi, gorilla, what's wrong with your face?"_ I demand, indicating with my head who I'm talking to. Gorilla man's face turns red and he advances on me. I suppose he understands Spanish then. I just have time to brace myself before I receive a series of sharp slaps around my face. I can taste blood in my mouth, but I try not to pay it much attention. "_Alright, alright no need to take your anger at Mother Nature out on me_," I smile, trying to keep the fear out of my eyes, and then spit blood and saliva directly in his ugly face. "That's it!" he shouts, discarding the wands and pulling out his own pointing at me and screaming three syllables '_cru-ci-o'_.

If you know what it's like to be on fire, the crucio curse is ten times worse. It's like breaking your legs over and over again. I'm aware of a piercing scream rip through the room and I know it's me; but I can't stop. Then everything goes black, for the third time in my life.

_ENNA! ENNA!_

Someone's shouting my name, but it feels disjointed, _I _feel disjointed from reality. But I force my eyes to open. FIRE! Everywhere I look there are flames. But I'm free of my chains so I get up. Viv's screaming in my face and pulling me along. I'm hardly conscious, is this real…or just some messed up nightmare?

Then I can breathe again, deep breaths. _In. Out. In. Out_. I'm aware of someone telling me to keep on moving and so I stagger along, lost in a daze. Suddenly there's an explosion that knocks Viv and I right off our feet. Finally my brain seems to be jarred back into life and the world seems to be screaming in my ears. Shakily I get to my feet. "_Where are the others? What happened_?" I manage to croak. Viv shushes me and we stay down; a few seconds later we hear footsteps. They've found us! I struggle to level my breathing as the footsteps stop short. Then…a frightened scream shatters the silence. Hazel. My eyes widen with anguish. I look to Viv for an answer, anything, but I find her just as scared as I am. In her hand there's a long knobby wand.

"Hah! You thought you could escape your fate, well you were wrong little witch!" snarls the violent voice of aggressive man. I hear a whimper, then…

"Get back! Get back!" screams a voice I haven't heard before, but I can pick out certain patterns in the way she forms her words that it's Janey. Slowly, Viv and I peep out from our hiding place to see the scene unfold. Janey has wedged herself between the crumpled form of Hazel and aggressive man; while gorilla man's back is facing us. Viv takes the opportunity, whispering a spell under her breath; gorilla man crumples and out of nowhere Viv is holding his wand. She hands it to me without hesitation. In return I don't question her sanity for giving an untrained 10 year old a wand, because I knew I needed something to protect myself. Suddenly the other girls pour out of the shadows; spells fly everywhere as they try to corner aggressive man. But he's a strong fighter.

Finally they get him cornered and Anya fires a stunning spell at him.

Then everything goes wrong. He dodges the shot easily and counters with a curse that's by far more deadly. Anya crumples to the floor; she doesn't even have time to scream as the green light hits her square in the chest. We're too shocked to move and when we do it's far too late. Aggressive man fires the killing curse in every direction and I am forced to watch my friends fall to the floor, never to move again. Viv tells me to run and aims a well placed stunning spell at aggressive mans chest, but not soon enough. Not before he's points his wand at Janey and screams '_Advada kedavra'_. Before the light in her eyes snuffs out I swear she looks directly at me and mouths 'look after her'. Then it's over.

I look around at what's left of my friends. Anya, May, Isabelle, Abby and Janey are all laying there, their glassy eyes staring blankly into a world only the dead can see. Hazel's sat cowering in the corner, tears making tracks down her grimy face. Tori, Viv and Barbie stand next to me, looking on. At hand there isn't much time, our captors are already stirring. Tori tells me to take Hazel and run; they have to stay and hold them back but they promise to find me.

So I run with hazel on my back, my clothes snagging on vicious brambles, fighting my way out of the tangle of trees that threatens to suffocate me. On and on I trudge, tripping over roots, staggering into trees. I'm aware of the sun slowly crawling through the cracks in the trees overhead. A new day.

Stark sunlight smacks me in the face as I finally emerge from the under growth. Then I spot a wisp of smoke coming from a BBQ and there flipping juicy burgers and sausages, is a boy around my age. I stumble forward, towards the food; the smell of the BBQ entices me with the promise of nourishment. He's seen me now; he's gazing right at me with those big amber eyes.

"Where are you going?" he enquires, as if it's perfectly normal for half alive ten year olds carrying half conscious and battered eight year olds to come here all the time.

"_Help! Please!" _I squeak, the words catching my throat. He looks at me, evidently puzzled. English. I search my brain and form the same words but in English. Realisation floods his eyes and he rushes, just in time to catch me before I die.

The after life is strange. That's where I'm supposed to be anyway, because I'm dead. I must be dead. I wish I was dead. Somehow it's much better than waking up to reality, like I'm going to have to very soon.

When I open my eyes he's kneeling beside me, tending to my wounds. He hasn't noticed that I'm awake yet so I use this to my advantage and study him. He's tall and lanky for a ten-eleven year old, the intensity of his amber eyes are sharpened by his concentration. His dark brown hair is an unruly mess of uneven curls that fall across his forehead; his skin is a light caramel colour- maybe he's mixed parentage. Then my times up, he's seen that I'm now conscious and helps me into a sitting position.

"Why you live on your own?" I ask in my halted English. One corner of his mouth quirks up and for a moment I'm disorientated, much to my confusion. "I don't." it's the first time I've heard him speak; his voice has a soothing tone to it, as if he's trying to comfort an injured animal. An animal. That's what I must seem like to him.

He makes me eat a beef burger and tells me Hazel is still asleep. "What's your name?" he asked after a while. I get the general gist of what he's saying, so I point to myself and say:

"Enna,"

"Enna," he repeats, testing it out; I find I like it when he says my name. Then I manage to portray my need to see Hazel; she's still unconscious, but sleeping peacefully now. The sun's high in the sky and I think about Tori, Barbie and Viv. Whether they've been re-caught by aggressive man and gorilla face. Soon I decide I have to leave, I've studied my surroundings and found I recognize this place. It's not too far from Old Town Cuenca. If Hazel and I start now, we can make it back my nightfall. But there still something I need to know. "Your name?" I say, pointing to him, he catches on, saying his name is Freddie.

"Well Freddie, what day it is?" I enquire. He gives another half smile at my abominable English. "Monday 12th May." My mind begins to work like clockwork. I've been missing almost two months; if my calculations were correct, they'd be back by Wednesday. I know I need to go now. So I stiffly get to my feet, get my bag and position Hazel on my back. "Where are you going?" Freddie asks me for the second time. I look at him, then smile, giving him a hug. A spark of inspiration hits me; I fish into my pocket, pulling out an amber amulet on a woven leather string that my mum gave me to keep the nargles away. I press it into his hands and say: "Keep,"

Then once again I ran away, but this time into the day and this time I did look back.


End file.
